other Precentral.net users lurking here

[dbpaddler]

I wouldn't play with the Nexus 1, I'd wait till 2.1 hits and play with the Hero. N1 is stock android and will be a far cry from the polished feel of Sense on 2.1. Though having played with 2.1 on my Moment, it's definitely a little more polished than 1.5 is.

I'm not sure I count as a lurker since I've been here since October owning both a Hero and a Moment. I became more of a lurker at PC between the time of ditching my release day Pre and picking up a Pixi.

crogs

 

[neodorian]

I wouldn't play with the Nexus 1, I'd wait till 2.1 hits and play with the Hero. N1 is stock android and will be a far cry from the polished feel of Sense on 2.1. Though having played with 2.1 on my Moment, it's definitely a little more polished than 1.5 is.

Agree. Maybe play with a Hero but then look at some of the Legend/Desire videos out there to see how speed and features have improved. Stock Android is a decidedly different experience than Sense.

 

[ImGreen]

Not lurking... I'm all in with both feet :-D

HTC EVO 4G brought me here!

 

[cary328is]

Has anyone else spread the good word back at Precentral and get chewed out? LOL

 

[cary328is]

HOLY HELL! Did you guys see this???

Bloomberg: Palm is up for sale -- Engadget

 

[Eguy]

HOLY HELL! Did you guys see this???

Bloomberg: Palm is up for sale -- Engadget

That is hilarious. I hope HTC buys them.

 

[cr12]

me too it would be like a phone superpower

 

[dbpaddler]

Sense could become the homogenization of webOS and Android. Card multitasking aside, swiping and notifications in Android would be sweet. And an active push for an active wallpaper and widgets of some sort in webOS. With the right blend of hardware they would truly gain some major market share, sense would almost become a standard for Android, and webOS would have the means to really take off. You'd have Nokia, RIM, Samsung and LG going 'oh $hit!'

 

[neodorian]

I'd be glad just to see either HTC buy them for IP and patents or someone big like Google and MS who can just afford to fund it as a spinoff/investment the way Microsoft saved Apple once before.

Software companies like Microsoft and search/web companies like Google benefit from the use of their software and services. Just like it's in Microsoft's interest to have Apple users around to still use Office, maybe it's in Google's interest to have as many eyeballs on screens as possible.

But still, I think the best thing would be for HTC/Google to take on the patent portfolio for ammo against Apple, not to mention maybe working some of the concepts into Android phones to improve certain aspects.

 

[Mitalis]

Guilty as charged. Lurker here =)

 

[twospirits]

Welcome to AF

TS

 

[lopezpm]

Forget lurking, I took it a step further. I got me a Hero and have my Pixi up for sale. I love it.

 

[hopalee]

I'm also a precentral convert and can't wait for the Evo to come out! I don't have any experience with Android, but it sounds great. The only thing that concerns me is the on screen keyboard. But the Evo is just so bad**s that I will definitely be trying it out.

 

[Eguy]

Is there something like the webOS Doctor for Android? Can anyone comment?

 

[Deleted User]

Is there something like the webOS Doctor for Android? Can anyone comment?

I just purchased a moment to tide me over til the EVO and to see what Android is about. Yes there is a update utility you can use to flash different builds of Android that is similar to what the WebOS Doctor did only more flexible as you can use it for custom builds. The whole process takes but a few minutes.

Can't say for certain if the process is similar across the board for Android devices, but for the Samsung Moment that is how it works.

Edit: and just to mention, I'm a launch day pre owner up until a week ago and I must say, if you like to tinker, Android is pretty nice.

 

[Eguy]

I just purchased a moment to tide me over til the EVO and to see what Android is about. Yes there is a update utility you can use to flash different builds of Android that is similar to what the WebOS Doctor did only more flexible as you can use it for custom builds. The whole process takes but a few minutes.

Can't say for certain if the process is similar across the board for Android devices, but for the Samsung Moment that is how it works.

Edit: and just to mention, I'm a launch day pre owner up until a week ago and I must say, if you like to tinker, Android is pretty nice.

That's kind of what I figured. Where can I get a utility like that?

 

[Deleted User]

That's kind of what I figured. Where can I get a utility like that?

Well to get an idea, here is a walkthrough specifically tailored to the moment but it uses a Sprint update utility directly from their site but the utility in this link is specific to the moment:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-moment/62674-how-install-2-1-root-dummys.html

 

[dustin_thewind]

I too am a precentral member. I am impatiently awaiting the release of the EVO so I can get it and put my pre (4th replacement one at that) on Craig's List and...hopefully offset some of the cost of my new phone. I'm over the pre man!!!!!

 

[utdps]

Fellow precentral user here too, but not too many posts. I love webos and I'll miss preware, but the evo hardware is just too hard to pass up. Plus, I almost got an android phone last year, but I'm glad I waited a year for it to polish up. Seems like it has matured enough, especially Sense.

 

[cary328is]

hey utdps welcome to the android forums. It's pretty depressing now over at precentral. Glad you made it over here. The EVO is gonna be awesome. Maybe someone can port a webos emulator over to android? LOL

 

[dbpaddler]

So frustrating. Have been relatively happy with the Pixi. Decided to get my Moment up and running with 2.1 and switched over. And I'm reminded how clunky email and messaging are on Android. I'm far removed from my time with the Hero, so I do hope the newest version of Sense works a bit of mojo on it. Makes me realize how important those two things are for my daily use. I think the Moment's size gets to me too after using the Pixi for a bit. Just something so familiar and easy about the form factor.

Also...you lose that instant ability for universal search. With a full screen device you have to activate the keyboard first before you enter. Just a quick observation or two in going back and forth between the two OS's.

 

[dbpaddler]

One more difference I find annoying, and Sense doesn't help, is the visual voicemail is only played through the phone's speaker. It won't go to a BT headset or speakerphone. Very annoying while driving or trying to write something down. Just another little annoyance I don't have on webOS. But native visual voicemail is nice as is the google voice app that works well too.

 

[Aaron91RS]

I'm here from Precentral and it's not because I hate the Pre. In fact I love the Pre, and this is coming from someone that has to support and hates the old Palm OS phones.
I can understand people not liking the pre, because in stock form it sucks, but modded it rocks. I'm still on my original phone, other people here in the office go through them like underwear, so I am thinking it's the user abusing it and then blaming the phone.(whether the user realizes it I doubt)
I did get to use a droid once for about 10 secs. Tried to email and it locked up and had to pull the battery. That was my extent of hands on droid use.
So here the EVO 4G is coming out. I told my sprint person to send me one as soon as they do to demo. The reason I am excited about the EVO 4G is the hardware with that big beautiful screen and great camera etc. I'm really not looking foward to the android OS from what I am reading. If I could have a webOS phone with the EVO 4G phone I would.
So my main reason of being over here is to figure out how to do the things I do now on my Pre on my Android.
Those include:
notifications-it appears the android OS does them just not as pretty?
IM'ing-how do I get support for yahoo IM, facebook chat and MSN messenger? Built in or if not can it be added?
Remote VNC- I can log in to my home computer and watch my security cameras at my house right on my phone. And also do other remote desktop things if I really wanted? Can I do the same somehow on the Android phones?
Tethering-wireless or USB cable it's all free internet. Tell me it's also easy to do on an android phone.
There's more but that's a good starter list.
Come July I have a feeling I am going to be stuck choosing between a very astetically pleasing OS or a very nice set of hardware specs, but not both.

For the record I am not a fanboy of ANY phone, in fact when it's my money I spend $80/year and just use a tracfone for *gasp* calls. (I'm sorry but $1500 of my own money to hear "omg hi'z 2u" on facebook isn't worth it)
But since the company pays for the Pre I have one and it is VERY modded.
However I do support blackberries and palms and iphones and nextel's and whatever else. Believe me they ALL break and they are all POS when you are getting called to constantly fix them. So if/when the sprint rep gets me my Evo 4g I'll try it out and have an UNBIAS review. I really hope I like the androidOS because palm may not live to put out a hardware heavy phone.

 

[Eguy]

notifications-it appears the android OS does them just not as pretty?
IM'ing-how do I get support for yahoo IM, facebook chat and MSN messenger? Built in or if not can it be added?
Remote VNC- I can log in to my home computer and watch my security cameras at my house right on my phone. And also do other remote desktop things if I really wanted? Can I do the same somehow on the Android phones?
Tethering-wireless or USB cable it's all free internet. Tell me it's also easy to do on an android phone.

webOS definitely does notifications the best. Android does them better than the iPhone, but they are NOT as good as webOS.

You can get 3rd party apps for IM if you want.

I believe there are a good amount of VNC apps. Check Find great Android apps and games - AppBrain.

Tethering can be done with the native app on the EVO or by rooting it once that is available.

Hope that helps.

 

[dbpaddler]

I've used ebuddy for messaging. It handles MSN, Facebook, Yahoo, AIM GTalk, Myspace, Hyves & ICQ.

Handcent for SMS. It has popups you can instant reply to. The notifications in the top bar aren't nearly as informative or polished as webOS, but the pop up capability makes quick responses a breeze.

Tethering? The Evo is a hotspot for up to 8 devices out of the box. 4g hotspot. Pretty sweet.

And don't think this is your ordinary Android OS. Sense adds quite a bit of polish on an otherwise clunky but functional OS. If the Evo were not Sensified, there wouldn't be near as much allure. Go play with the HTC Incredible at the Verizon store for a bit. That's the OS you're getting on the Evo. I wouldn't even entertain the Evo if it was stock Android. I absolutely hate email on it. One thing I love about webOS is email and messaging. It's just so convenient, even more so on the Pixi. IMAP folder support in Android sucks as bad as it does on BB. K9 helps, but it syncs horribly with the server and navigating through it is too tedious and not very intuitive. Sense helps a lot with email.

Not a fanboy of anything either. I manage our Sprint account and gladly recommend things based on our reps' needs. We have an assortment of Android, webOS and BB phones with two iPhone hold outs, and we give them $60/mo which is what we'd be paying for them on Sprint since they choose AT&T. As long as they check their Exchange mail, I could care less what they use.

And I don't know who made Dell's phones, if it's HTC or some other mfg, but the Smoke and Lightning make the Pre and Pixi look like kids' toys. I pray one of those comes to the CDMA side in some way, shape or form. I don't know why HTC has abandoned hard key phones, but if they make Dell's new ones, they better a) pitch those design concepts to Palm in hopes of a partnership or b) slap an HTC brand on them for Android. I'd take either with Sense in a heartbeat.